


Something Missing, Something Found

by Penstrokes



Category: Super Science Friends (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, Mother Daughter Bonding, a present for a friend's birthday, happy 18th birthday Grover, perfume making
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-20
Updated: 2019-05-20
Packaged: 2020-03-08 08:14:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18890689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Penstrokes/pseuds/Penstrokes
Summary: It'd been only a few short months since the super science friends discovered the existence of the hybrid clones and even shorter still was the time they'd been with the team. While Curie and Tesla have struggled to find a balance with theirs, Tapputi found that long lost piece of her she'd been missing for so long.A short one on one lesson with her child Banu- she remembers what it was.





	Something Missing, Something Found

**Author's Note:**

  * For [roidadidou](https://archiveofourown.org/users/roidadidou/gifts).



> Banu is a hybrid clone/fan child between Darwin and Tapputi. Grover and I came up with her concept from her existence to her powers and personality until she finally had a name. I hope ya'll love her as much as we do.

Tapputi’s room was like a museum, Banu thought to herself as she took time to soak in the items of her mother’s room. No matter how many times she’d been in here, it still felt so  _ alive.  _ Pieces of times and places arranged neatly everywhere, each with stories to tell. It made Tapputi’s room feel so lived in, not just a place to live and work until the war was over. When she visited the other rooms, on the rare occasion that she spent time with any other than Tapputi or Darwin, she noticed the difference clearly. It almost felt like being back in the US, in the lab where they’d been ‘born’ and ‘raised’ for the entirety of their lives until recently.

 

“Well kid, you’re spending the day with me. Hope you’re not too disappointed.” Tapputi chuckled, watching as her red headed child gazed with delight upon her room. Banu - like the twins- had been unexpected. In hindsight it’d been logical to figure that the US who’d made Einstein, their Einstein, had wanted to make an extra, a back up. They hadn’t expected...other experiments to come down the pipe. Tapputi had kept souvenirs of all the times she’d lived through, as reminders, happy and sad. Reminders of eras gone by. Now that Banu was here though, they held a new meaning. They had life in them again, more than just stories to pass the time with to her colleagues if the questions ever came up. 

 

This was Banu’s heritage. It was a part of who she was on some level and Tapputi was determined to instill them into her daughter. 

 

Banu laughed, the bright sunlight from outside streamed in, bathing her in a warm glow. The way they made her hair shine bright as if they were flames only gave her joyful energy more power, more presence. She was a pretty little thing, Tapputi never had a doubt about that. She was half of  _ her  _ after all.

 

“How could I be disappointed when I’m with you? You’re my mom, I’ve been waiting to meet you even before I knew you existed.” Banu smiled at her, not only with her mouth but with her eyes. The same way Darwin did when he was engrossed in an amusing thought. The same way Tapputi did when she’d felt a deep sort of happiness. 

 

“So, what are we gonna learn today?” Banu jumped straight into the heart of the matter without a moment’s hesitation. “History? How to sew and knit and all that cool stuff?” 

 

“Glad to see that enthusiasm of yours, Banu. Never  _ ever  _ lose that spark of yours. You’ll find it’ll carry you places in times of trouble and lift in the good times. We’re going to be doing something simple. I’m going to be teaching you how to make perfumes. This tower gets a bit stale and boring smelling, gotta spice it up with the good stuff.” Tapputi winked at her slyly. The perfume was a nice hands on activity, a present she could use or show off to Lillia if she so chose. That wasn’t the main reason why she’d decided on this activity. Perfumes lead to potions and the girl was going to need something to help defend herself, god forbid something happen and she need to use it.

 

Shapeshifting was a fine tool that Darwin had unintentionally given to her, but as she was right now, baby animals were unlikely to be of much use. If Marie and Nikola’s kids had some sort of way to defend themselves, her child ought to have the same opportunity.

 

“What kind of perfume?” Banu asked, coming close to the table Tapputi was preparing. 

 

“I was thinking Jasmine, maybe Rose. Something you’d be familiar with.” Tapputi stated, as she drew out two small bottles of scented oils, taken from the flowers she’d worked on refilling her stock of scents. She opened one bottle and let Banu sniff one, then the other. 

 

“They’re both really nice smelling.” Banu said with a hint of reluctance.

 

“Don’t worry, you’ll learn how to mix scents soon enough, for now we’ll start on how to make perfumes with a single scent.” Tapputi assured her, putting the bottles on the table.

 

“I think...I want Rose.” Banu decided, picking up the bottle. Tapputi put the other away for now. 

 

“It’s a nice smelling flower, very common, especially in Europe.” It was also easier for her to get more of in the future, especially around these parts. Maybe not during the war exactly, but it was certainly more common around England.

 

“The most important parts of perfume, are the ingredients and distillation.” Tapputi explained as she once more took on an old role of hers. She gestured to the rest of the bottles and equipment before them. 

 

“Since it’s your first time making perfume, I figured we’d go for a lighter base, plain old filtered water. It’ll be lighter than perfumes made with heavier bases, but that’s ok. Sometimes lighter is better.” Tapputi filled the bottle with water, then added in the rose oil. She swirled the bottle around, letting the liquids mix. 

 

Banu watched intrigued as Tapputi moved onto the second stage of the perfume making process.

 

“Now, it’s time for-?” Tapputi asked, eyebrow raised in anticipation.

 

“Is it distillation?” Banu asked, tentatively. That was the only other thing she’d recalled hearing but maybe she’d missed something? Or maybe Tapputi hadn’t mentioned it and was testing to see if Banu had thought of whatever was supposed to happen next on her own.

 

“That’s right, you gotta do it a few times though, purify it. You don’t want second rate scents when you can spend some extra time improving it.” Tapputi noted as she showed her how to do it the first time. She handed the bottle and the distiller to Banu after that, encouraging her to try it.

 

Banu’s hand was uncertain, though the steps had not been especially difficult or complicated. It took some knowledge but it wasn’t knowledge that couldn’t be taught or gleaned from watching. 

 

“You’re doing fine, Banu. Just do what I did.” 

 

Tapputi watched as Banu went repeated the distillation process a few more times before she stopped her.

 

“I think that’s enough, let me test it.” Tapputi said, taking the bottle from Banu. She gave a brief spray, to catch the scent, to see how far it’d come. It was a light almost fruity scent, not as pure and deep as it could have been but the base made it less potent. It was good enough for Banu’s first try. There would be more opportunities later on but she’d let Banu relish in what she’d accomplished.

 

“You did good, Banu.” Tapputi told her, handing the bottle back to her daughter. “When you get good enough, I’ll teach more complex things. Maybe even potions.”

 

“Potions like yours?” Banu asked, glancing at the other bottles Tapputi had locked behind a glass cabinet. She kept her more important, hard to get ingredients there for safe keeping. Few people entered her room without her invitation, but it didn’t hurt to be careful. 

 

“Exactly. You want to run along and see if the twins are done with their lessons? You can show off your perfume to Lillia.” Tapputi suggested. She’d clean the equipment herself this time and show her how to care for them properly in their next lesson. 

 

Life was short, the kids deserved to enjoy this newly discovered balance between lessons and childhood. A long absent face entered her mind, seeing Banu’s  light up. She’d had children before, back in her youth. A type of youth her potions could never give back to her. She’d daughters and sons both and while it was to be expected for kids to look like their parents, there was one who reminded her the most of Banu. 

 

There were many reasons Tapputi loved seeing Banu smile and laugh. To be a normal, happy, healthy child. It reminded her so much of Ninu, Tapputi almost swore a part of her long lost daughter resided in her new found one. She didn’t know if souls existed or what happened to them if they did...but she wanted to believe that Ninu had come back to her after thousands of years apart. 

 

Banu was Banu and nothing would change that. Ninu would always be alive in a long gone past, but there was something so heart piercingly familiar that made her feel more whole than she’d been in a very long time.

 

A family she could hold and love.


End file.
